Knife holder



July 10, 1956 c, cu 2,754,008

KNIFE HOLDER Original Filed Aug. 13, 1953 Fig.1.

INVENTOR Paul C. Culver.

United States Patent KNIFE HOLDER Paul C. Culver, Crisfield, Md., assignor to Chas. D.

Briddell, Inc., Crisfield, Md., a corporation of Maryland Original application August 13, 1953, Serial No. 373,970. Divided and this application April 23, 1954, Serial No. 425,280

1 Claim. (Cl. 21160) This invention relates to an improvement in knives and holders therefor and is a division of my previous application Serial No. 373,970, filed August 13, 1953.

While it is known to provide knife holders or racks wherein the blade can be mounted in a position to readily grasp the handle, nevertheless, particularly in the use of knives with sharp edges, it is desirable to provide a rack which effectively and safely supports a knife with the point of the blade positioned upwardly and the handle projecting downwardly for ready use or storage when it is not in use.

An object of the invention is to provide a holder for cooperating with a knife, said holder having means for receiving said knife in such a way that the sharp cutting edge is compelled to be placed in a slot, thereby not only causing the sharp edge to be concealed by the mere act of placing it in the holder or rack, but, at the same time, causing the knife to be supported with its back or unsharpened edge facing the user.

With the above and other objects in view, which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter more fully described, illustrated, and claimed.

Preferred and practical embodiments of the invention are shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a perspective view of a modified form of rack;

Figure 2 is a detail vertical sectional view of the construction shown in Fig. 1;

Figure 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the lug moved slightly to the rear of the blade.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings.

As shown in Figures 1 and 2 of the drawing, the noncutting heel portion 4a of the blade K does not project beyond the blade edge, but the integral hanger lug 5 projects laterally from or perpendicular to the non-cutting heel portion 4a.

According to Figure 3 the blade K is also provided with a non-cutting heel portion 4b, but the laterally offset lugs 5a are moved slightly toward the back edge 3a of the blade, but it is still between planes lying between the terminus of the cutting edge and the ferrule.

In other words, the laterally projecting hanger lugs 5 and 5a are located at the shank end of the blade so as to support the knife in a holder at a location adjacent the handle H. The location of the knife supporting lugs 5a in Figure 3 may be useful in connection with knives wherein the depth of the blade is less than in carving and slicing knives.

It may be further pointed out that Figures 1, 2 and 3 show a knife holder or rack designated generally as 17 and which may be conveniently formed from extruded metal or plastic. The body of the rack 17 is preferably of generally Z-shaped formation in cross-section and includes an upper downwardly opening channel portion 18 provided with a back wall 19, a top wall 20 and a front wall 21 integrally connected by angularly disposed web 22 leading to an upwardly directed channel portion 23. This upwardly directed channel portion includes a back wall 24 in alignment with back wall 19, a bottom wall 25 and an upturned front flange or wall 26 which serves as an abutment for the lugs to prevent accidental displacement of the knife.

The front walls 21 and 26 of the rack 17 are provided with aligned slots 27 and 28 for receiving the blade of the knife. Also the wall 21 of the upper channel portion may be provided with openings 21a to receive a screw or other fastening for attaching the rack to a support such for example, as a box, board or wall.

The bottom wall 25 of the lower channel 23 constitutes a shelf on which the lugs 5 or 5a rest when the knife is supported in the rack 17.

The knives having the laterally extending hanger lug 5 may be readily mounted on the rack 17 by inserting the blade portions thereof in any selected pair of aligned slots 27 and 28 and positioning the lug 5 behind the upturned front flange or wall 26 of the lower channel 23 with the handle disposed downwardly. It will, therefore, be seen that the knife is not only supported by the bottom 25 of the upwardly opening channel 23 but at the same time is also interlocked behind the upstanding flange 26 so that accidental displacement of the knife relative to the rack is prevented. In order to remove the knife from the rack 17, it is simply necessary to lift the same slightly while withdrawing the same laterally, the sharp edge of the knife being positioned away from the user. The distance between the supporting lugs 5 or 5a and the top edge of the ferrule on the handle H is always sufficient to permit the knife to clear its related holding abutment.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that the rack body 17 is formed to provide an attaching base including the back walls 19 and 24 and the forwardly projecting lower shelf 25 which is partially overhung by the forwardly projecting knife blade receiving portion 20- 2122, the front walls 21 and 26 being provided with registering slots for receiving the blades of the knives to be supported in the rack.

In connection with the holder 17, it will, of course, be understood that it may be made of any suitable material and supported on the wall or other surface, or, alternatively, it may be made a part of the box or package in which a set of knives is sold so that the entire package can be suspended on a wall or the like to give ready access to any particular type of knife desired, while, at the same time, assuring the user maximum protection from the sharp edges of the knives.

Without further description, it is believed that the construction and advantages of the invention will be readily understood, and that changes may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claim.

I claim:

A rack for hanging knives, comprising, a one-piece hanger body for attachment to a wall or like primary support and having a cross-sectional shape including, an upper back wall for attachment to a support, said back Patented July 10,1956

a 3 wall being in a plane parallel with the surface of the primary support, a horizontal top wall projecting forwardly from the back wall and joining a front wall which is spaced from and parallel to the upper back wall, said top and front wall having knife blade receiving slots and masking the upper back wall, an inclined web joined with the lower edge portion of the front wall provided with similar slots, at lower back wall vertically alined with the upper back wall, a bottom wall projecting outwardly from said lower back wall, and an upturned flange on the terminal edge portion of the bottom wall, said bottom wall and flange 4 having slots registering with the slots of the top and front walls.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,491,623 Pitchur Apr. 22, 1924 1,754,543 Callum Apr. 15, 1930 1,937,424 Champlin Nov. 28, 1933 2,089,537 Champlin Aug. 10, 1937 2,357,646 Gilbert Sept. 5, 1944 2,479,181 Povlack Aug. 16, 1949 

